Let's Build a Patio... Day 2

Phew! I'm tired just thinking about this... So John came in on Friday, and we went to Home Depot and racked up on sand. We stopped at WalMart after looking for large stepping stones to fill in because we knew we would be short on bricks. We found 4 cute ones along with plain ones. We woke up Saturday and started the project. In order to get to the bricks, we had to clear a nasty pile of firewood, flower pots and trash. In the process, we found several friends....

Yep, 6 snakes... John thought we should keep them and let them go.
Anyways, we spread sand then laid bricks and mapped out where the stepping stones would go.



After all of the bricks were in place, we pushed the sand in to make grout. Then blew it off and sprayed it with water. John got us some landscape lumbers to lock all of the bricks in place. We got some metal landscaping pieces to line the walkway.





Stay tuned for finishing the landscaping border and filling the gravel in...
Love!

Let's Build a Patio... Day 1

When I bought my house, I decided it was missing a patio. Growing up, we would always sit outside on the patio to eat supper or sit outside just for fun! Anyways, my house needed a patio! Paul and Leigh-Ann had finished the front porch with antique brick and had some leftover-- the perfect amount for the perfect patio!
Day 1 consisted of clearing the land.



Along with clearing the land, the land had to be leveled. A lot of work to be done!!!!!
Next I decided it would be best to put down landscape fabric to help prevent weeds and to help outline where I wanted to lay the patio.



Next up, John comes in to help save the day and lift the heavy things!!!
Love!

a little lagnaippe.

Haven't blogged in a while!! I'll catch you up on my world later, but for now, enjoy a little history from Louisiana! This is the history of the Mardi Gras holiday.  Mardi Gras was introduced to New Orleans in the 1700 on the banks of the Mississippi River.  The date of the actual day of Fat Tuesday is determined by the church calendar that is used to determine the date of Easter.  Fat Tuesday, the other name for Mardi Gras, is always celebrated 47days before Easter.  As everyone knows the colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold. Purple represents justice, green represents faith, and gold power.  The King's Cake is an oval cake in honor of the kings who came to visit the baby Jesus.  The oval shape represets unity of faith.  The small baby inside represents the Baby Jesus. The season of Mardi Gras begins on January 6 which is also known as Epiphany.  Epiphany is the day that the kings arrived with gifts to visit baby Jesus.  Fat Tuesday is the day right before Ash Wednesday which begins the season of Lent.  Lent is a 40day season of preparation for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the day we know as Easter Sunday.  During this 40 day period many Christians choose to make a personal sacrifce by giving up something that they enjoy or could fast from.  Lent is 40 week days before Easter Sunday.  Typically it is and has been something sweet.  Many denominations celebrate a Fat Tuesday pancake supper. This ends Epiphany and the next day, Ash Wednesday, begins the Lenten season.

The ashes used on Ash Wednesday are usually derived from burning the blessed palm branches left from the last Palm Sunday celebration. The ashes are blessed, sprinkled with holy water and fumigated with incense. This reflects the central ritual of this holiday, the placing of ashes on the forehead to symbolize mourning and penitence. 

Ok so this is my history lesson for today!!! Enjoy!! Remember what Jesus did for each of us by dying on the cross and taking away all of our sins in that one instant, not just during this Lenten season, but everyday!!! 
Lassiez les bon temp rouler!!!!!!!!

Grace

Grace. It's a tough word and concept to wrap my mind around. Ephesians 2.8 says "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—" Grace is a gift each of us are given each and every day. Man, how wonderful is that!?!?
How often do we show grace to others? When we're sitting in traffic? Or checking out at Walmart? Or dealing with children? Or to people in our every day lives? Or to our parents? Or to the elderly? Or to strangers, people in general?
Since when did we all become so perfect we don't need grace shown to us? I'm fo sho not anywhere close to perfect! And obviously see that others aren't either. Why is it so difficult for us to show God's grace that was shown to us to other people? I don't know, but I do know that through God's help, I am slowly becoming a better grace giver. That's the only way to become a grace giving person. And let me be the first to tell you, it is not easy. At all.
So let's all show some grace. It'll make the world a better place!
Love!

Mardi Gras...

Since Emma and Dave moved to the New Orleans area, mom and I decided we should go down for Mardi Gras. We all arrived Friday night and went out in search of local food for dinner. After running into about 3 closed restaurants, we try one more and ran into a parade. Little did Dad, John, Dave and I know that we were with the most intense bead catchers on the planet. Strangers were running away in fear of being knocked over by one of them. That night, I caught a bag of beads to save Daddy's life. Who knew I could catch?? That was the biggest shock. We got home and woke up stinkin early to get a good spot. Mom bought E, me and her matching t-shirts to wear. We looked so cute! We watched the parade and Dave stayed for the next one. He found a "loose" girl to stand behind and ended up bringing home a ton of beads. As we left the parade, it started storming. We decided to weather the storm at Mahoney's and enjoy a poboy. After a long day, then a quick nap, we ate a low key dinner and woke up to have beignets and we all left... Family weekend #2 was a blast!!! I hated to drive home. Looking forward to the next family fun weekend!!
Love!

Girlie.

You know, sometimes it just stinks being a girl. One minute you are the happiest person on the planet, the next you're weeping for no reason. I don't get it. Sometimes, it's not so bad. Some days, it's just bad. Like today. One little note in the mail sent me to a weepy mess.
I'm also girlie in other ways. I like to be clean and neat and organized and clothes somewhat matching and such. I like things done for me, like pumping my gas. But I'll get dirty with the best of them. I am a hard worker. A girlie hard worker who laughs while crying.
There ya go. Whatev.
Love!

Blue Suede 2011

My wonderful daddy was the chairperson for the Blue Suede event that benefits child abuse in Jackson, TN. None of us like to miss a party, so everyone packed up and headed north. I was the first to arrive. Daddy had picked up our favorite BBQ and brought it to Grandma Rose's. Everyone else arrived a little later. Saturday morning, we all woke up and got moving. The girls went shopping and I'm not really sure what the boys did. We all went to Grandma's for lunch--- her famous meatloaf was on the menu! After lunch, John and I went for a run. Then it was time to get ready for the main event and load up and head to the Civic Center. We arrived on time and hopped right into the party!

Me and Annette!

The Chair and ME

Dave creeps like mom.

Pretty girls.

siblings.

mom and the boys

mom and her friend allison. they shut down the discos in their prime. they dance the same.

look at that perfect little family. man, i sure do love and miss them all so very much. Wish we could live closer!
love!